Gratitude

Before I get into the hustle and bustle of making my 22 pound Thanksgiving turkey and attempting to recreate Mike's mom's cornbread stuffing, I wanted to take a minute and reflect on the things I am grateful for this year:

• First and foremost, I am so very thankful to have been born in this time in history and have been brought up in the United States. Mike and I were watching this really interesting documentary on PBS the other night about the Nazis and the movement to try to save art and historical artifacts throughout Russia and Europe during WWII. It was really interesting. The Nazis were so evil... the terror and fear and disrespect for human life... degrading people by destroying their art and their spirit made me especially grateful that I live in a place where freedom of speech exists and where I have never wanted for anything.... Our country is not perfect, but we are so blessed that it is easy to take for granted. I truly truly hope that my son gets to continue to experience this richness and freedom in his lifetime and his childrens' lifetimes.


• My husband. Just last night he made me laugh telling me a story about a store on Burnet Road that only sells chess sets and games (long story), he made a pot of Irish breakfast tea that we got in Ireland and we watched the Peanuts Thanksgiving special together. He plans to join me for the Turkey Trot 5 miler tomorrow and we will both be wearing turkey hats. He always does mundane things like make the coffee and takes out the trash and mows the lawn, and never says anything to me when I spend more money than I should nor neglect the plants in the yard and is always complimentary of my cooking and baking. He is open to new ideas I have like cloth diapering and also loves to keep traditions from his family growing up and build ones together. He loves to take me on fun adventures around the world and in our city. Not to mention the fact that he is the one who is more overtly spiritual than I am and sets such a good example for me and will for John Michael. This is a small snapshot, but I love him to death.


• Our baby- He has the cutest, fuzziest hair right now and I am having such a blast with him lately. He is a really happy baby, and will squeal with delight when I enter the room. He is always smiling and making loud noises. Seeing him in his footie pajamas in his exersaucer warms my heart to no end. When I pick him up, he grabs both sides of my hair and pulls me to him trying to eat my chin or neck and it hurts like hades, but it is wonderful to be loved so much that a 6 month old literally wants to eat you. I am so thankful that he is healthy and mostly that he is here. I wanted a baby to love for so long...


• My family- I am so thankful that my family all lives in the same city and I have gotten to know my sister and brother as adults. I am thankful that my mom found Art and that they are so happy. I am so thankful that Art came with such great kids our age.


• My in laws- I was just talking to my hairdresser about in-laws yesterday, which reminded me how blessed I am to have in-laws who I like very much. Just yesterday I was talking with Pattie and she gave me a great recipe and told me how much she thought I was a great mom. I am happy we can talk on the phone and they seem to like me, too.


• I am thankful that I joined 2 new moms groups this fall and that JM and I are taking the music together classes. I am excited about meeting some other moms.


• I am thankful for my jog stroller. This seems mundane, but a few months ago I was feeling pretty lousy about myself and running and training again has really helped me feel like myself again. The fact that I can leave from my house and run for 30 minutes or so through beautiful tree-lined streets is pretty wonderful.


• I am thankful for my health. I have no real major ailments, other than an occasional bout of hypochondria.


• I am thankful for my birthpeep. I am very blessed by God that he is with such an awesome family that continue to keep me a part of his life. I worry sometimes about the future and how to talk to our son about it and maybe even him about it. I pray that God will give me the grace when the time comes.


• I am thankful that I got to know and love my dad for as long as I did. I am thankful that I got to take FMLA and come to Austin 7 years ago to take care of him and say goodbye.


• I am thankful for my house. I love it....


• I am thankful for my car. I love it, too...


• I am thankful for my big warm bed that currently has flannel sheets on it.


• I am thankful for Sirius holiday music.


• I am thankful that Mike has a good job and I get to stay home and enjoy every moment with JM.


• I am thankful that I get to host my first thanksgiving tomorrow. Hopefully I won't kill the turkey a la Christmas Vacation.
  

As you can see, I am abundantly blessed. I could go on, but I have to go attempt to make stuffing/dressing now. Happy Thanksgiving, all! I am thankful for you!

AC: Compassion

Love him

We went to Dallas last week to see Coldplay and turned it into a long visit coming back last night. The show was great. I love Chris Martin as much as ever, however the first time we saw them at ACL a few years ago will always hold a special space in my heart. Anyway, they played a great set list. Our seats were in the first balcony so we had a good view. We moved to sit by Joe and Pam and the band came up into the crowd to play and of course, were about 10 rows from our original seats.

We did a little shopping and got this hat at Hanna Anderson for our Norweigan babe. He was a trouper with the travel and managed to charm the pants off of his grandparents (even more). It was fun to see both of them interact with him. And, as of Friday he has a 2nd bottom tooth already!

Mike and I ran 9 hard miles today down Shoal Creek and back up the hill into our 'hood with JM in the stroller. Uggggghhh.... I am SO not ready for the half in a few weeks! Worrying a little about my right knee, as well. It has been aching a bit. Never had knee problems, so I hope this isn't the start of "old age."

Oh, and I am hosting Thanksgiving this Thursday.... Currently defrosting my 22 pound turkey! Now, if buying furniture didn't make me feel old, cooking a turkey surely will!

AC: beauty

6 months old!

I have no idea how this happened.

Much of the past 6 months has been a blur.
Our little baby is 6 months old today!


On Friday night we were driving out to the lake house and he shoved my hand into his mouth and I felt something funny in there, like a little shard of glass. Upon further inspection over the seat, sure enough, he has a tooth coming through!
It is on the bottom in the middle and doesn't seem to be bothering him too much.


Although he has been waking at 2am the past few nights, he is so much fun these days. He:

• Is still sleeping through the night (Amen!)
• Drools a lot (no shock here)
• Spits up a TON. He is a total mess
• Still puts everything in the mouth (including a paci)
• Can roll across the floor
• Can sit up anchored on someone's lap, but still topples over on his own
• Loves to eat solid food! His favorites are bananas with cereal, prunes, pears and applesauce. He likes vegetables all right, specifically peas. He hated carrots.
• Is still breastfeeding during the day every 3 hours. My goal was 6 months, but I am not ready to stop anytime soon.
• Loves to "talk" loudly.
• Is easily distractable. If he is fussing, you can give him a toy and he'll stop (for a bit)
• Loves going up and down in the air.
• Still takes 3 naps a day. Usually around an hour and a half each.
  

Anyway, I can't imagine our lives without him anymore. It's crazy that 7 months ago, I was pregnant and he wasn't here and a year and a half ago our lives were so SO different. My heart feels so full when I think about him. Hanging out with him is one of my favorite pastimes. Somehow, the sneaky little bugger has made me fall in love with him in such a big way. I love him so much...

Curried rice with shrimp

I made this a few weeks ago and it was definitely one to add to the weeknight rotation (who am I kidding? I rarely make the same recipe twice... but if I did...). The flavors of the curry and basil were delicious. This would be especially good for a chilly night with some crusty bread (and of course, a glass of wine). It had a real warm and rich flavor.

Curried Rice with Shrimp (from Real Simple)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup long-grain white rice
Kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup fresh basil

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 6 to 8 minutes.Add the garlic and curry and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the rice, 2 1/2 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.Season the shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and nestle them in the partially cooked rice. Cover and cook until the shrimp are opaque throughout, 4 to 5 minutes. Fold in the basil and serve. Yield: Makes 4 servings

Notes:

• I used instant brown rice instead of the long grain white and it turned out perfectly.

I am a grown-up

The fact that the economy is in the tank did not stop me from buying furniture last week. When the lady at Haverty's told me they were discontinuing this settee that I have been thinking about purchasing for ehem, two years, ever since I sat on it at Mike's cousin Shirley's house during Christmas of 2006, I knew the time had come to make my move. It was now or never. They cut me a serious deal on the floor sample. I have always been more of an impulse buyer (and many time victim of buyers remorse), so I am thrilled that patience paid off so well this time.

So, yes, I think that a designer may say that this room is entirely too full of furniture, and yes, I know I need to get a larger piece of art for the wall above our beloved hand-me-down banana couch but I will cherish every nap and lazy moment on this comfy settee.... which my CRHP sister Carroll pointed out that with kids may soon be called the "shittee."

Anyway, buying furniture makes me feel OLD.

AC: Beauty

Little turkey

Changing my "little turkey's" diaper has become a wrestling match.

"Just try to get that diaper on me!" he says as he continually flips over and shakes his little hiney at me.

Little turkey, indeed.
He is such a cute stink.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

I am a big fan of anything you can make in the Crock Pot. This weekend I threw this turkey chili in, went to the UT-Baylor game and came home... and then we had our neighbors and friends over for a fall backyard gathering with it afterwards. It is a bit spicy and doesn't taste healthy. Courtesy of Allrecipes...

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
serves 8

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey
2 (10.75 ounce) cans tomato soup
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch ground allspice
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until evenly brown; drain. Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray, and mix in turkey, tomato soup, kidney beans, black beans and onion. Season with chili powder, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, allspice and salt.

Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High.

Notes:

• I pretty much despise Campbell's tomato soup and couldn't imagine my chili tasting anything like it, so I substituted a can of diced tomatoes for one can of soup.
• The first time I made this it seemed a bit dry, so I took the opportunity to crack open a Miller Lite and added some to the mix... and drank the rest. Maybe about 3/4C's worth?
• I would say this is about a 2.5 out of 5 on the spicy scale, as prepared, or generally edible for most kids and adults, but with a bit of a kick. If you don't like spicy, add less red pepper.
• Served with tortilla strips, sour cream and cornbread. Mmmm!

Safe to write?

Thanks to Dr. Ferber, JM has slept through the night regularly for over a week now even despite the fact that he has a cold! He has been sleeping from 7-4, eats and then sleeps until 7 or so. Not bad!

Weird

So my birthchild's father decided to add me to his Facebook friends list this weekend. I can't stop shaking my head about it, just laughing at how completely weird and a little bit ooky it is. I emailed him last summer and we kind of "made peace" about the situation, but I don't want him writing on my wall or anything. :) Add that to the awkward and inappropriate file....

I am so so happy that I found Mike and we have JM! God is good

AC: harmony

Halloween 2008

the elephant and the pea
Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

JM had a good Halloween.
We made the mistake of trying to do too much .
We visited the neighbors, who all wanted to visit.
We went over to Sandra's, and she wanted to visit.
We went to the J's, who were having a fun party in the yard. JM and RW looked especially adorable in their pea and elephant costumes.
We stayed no longer than 30 minutes at each stop.
Then we went to Emily and Dale's and by that time, we were all tired and especially frustrated that we had spent the whole evening running around.
Next year, we are staying in the neighborhood.

5 month check-up

John Michael had his 5 month wellness visit.

He's as strong as an ox.

He can roll completely across the floor, which is a little ahead of the curve for his age, but because of his size, he is also probably more lithe.

Dr. T says he can see it in his eyes that he's going to be an early crawler.

He's grown an inch in the last month (60th percentile height).

His head size is normal.

And his weight is still 3rd percentile.

Dr. T was not happy that he was still waking up every 3 hours.

Not happy at all.

So he told us to start loading him up with food during the day.

Solids and liquids.

I started nursing him more.

We added some foods to his repertoire: applesauce, sweet potatoes and prunes.

And we added a lunch solid and a bottle of 6 oz of formula on top of his last nighttime nursing.

And he still woke up 2.5 hours later.

So Dr. T said it was time for a little sleep training.

We did Ferber for 2 nights and it worked quickly. The first night was pretty hard for me to deal with. I set a timer and went in to his room every 5. 10. 15. 20 minutes, etc. and at one point, he seemed a little possessed, he was so mad that I wasn't picking him up. But, like the book says, he woke up happy as a clam.

The second night was a lot better.

The third night, he slept for 12 hours and woke up the happiest I've ever seen him. And was able to stay awake longer during the day.

We've had about 4 nights now of long periods of sleep with the little one.

He slept from 7:45 until 6:15 this morning, ate, had a happy "meeting" by himself in his crib for a while and went back to bed and is still sleeping now at 8:15.

AC: courage